From: The Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples/Jamaicans/George E. Eaton
The Jamaican social structure is extremely complex and has evolved out of the slave-worked plantation system in which stratification was based on race, colour, and class. At the apex were the privileged white colonial administrators and planters, in between was the intermediary class of persons of mixed race (browns), and at the bottom was the mass of the disenfranchised black population. The hierarchy of wealth was synonymous with the hierarchy of colour.
Since 1945, economic, educational, and social changes have loosened up the class structure. Earlier Jamaican patterns of social stratification have continued in Canada, however. Black Jamaicans in Canada are often catalogued variously as black, visible minority, Jamaican, West Indian, or Caribbean. Jamaicans of European, Chinese, or East Indian extraction may wonder whether they are welcome.
Jamaican-born Chinese have established their own association in Toronto. The Jamaican Chinese have remained entrepreneurs concentrated in retail food outlets (corner stores and mini-supermarkets), travel, and the professions. Nicey’s Food Mart, a chain in the Toronto area owned by Vincent Lai, evokes the childhood recollections of this group of Jamaicans.
Generally, Jamaican/Caribbean fast-food outlets, restaurants, and personal-care establishments (hairdressers and barber salons), serve as arenas for fraternizing and cultural reinforcement. Jamaican-born white immigrants, especially of the entrepreneurial classes who arrived during the 1970s, blend into mainstream Canadian society but still possess Jamaican linguistic and other cultural traits. Multiple identifications have resulted in multi-organizational and overlapping support groups, memberships, and loyalties, perhaps to the detriment of all.
Areas of residential concentration, most notably in major cities such as Toronto, reflect traditional arrival or staging areas. This has led to spatial separation without the institutional mechanisms and processes that in Jamaica promote social interaction and mobility, including schools; sports, especially cricket and soccer; reggae music, which incorporated black working-class culture and ideology (including, more recently, dance-hall music and culture); mixing at the beaches on holiday excursions; use of Jamaica talk; Jamaican food and drink; and mass-based political parties and out-door mass rallies.
Nevertheless, class-differentiated socializing does take place in traditional forms, such as hotel-ballroom gatherings, house parties, block parties, large-scale warehouse and after-hours club activities, and warehouse dances. The role of religious institutions and activities also depends on class. For instance, among black working-class families, especially women – the mainstay of families – the evangelical and revivalist churches have provided youth development, seniors’ programs, family counselling, and conflict resolution.
The 1950s and 1960s saw the arrival in Canada of Jamaicans who became leaders and human rights activists or distinguished themselves in academe, the professions, the diplomatic service, business, public administration, community service, the arts, and sports. In the community as a whole, Jamaicans have tended to make common cause with other Caribbeans and blacks, with so-called visible minorities, and they belong to a welter of African, black, Afro-Caribbean, Caribbean, West Indian, and specifically Jamaican organizations. Among Jamaican organizations, the most prominent are the Toronto-based Jamaican Canadian Association (JCA), the Ontario-based Council of Jamaicans, and the National Council of Jamaicans and Supportive Organizations in Canada (NCJSOC). The JCA was launched in Toronto in August 1962. During the 1960s and 1970s it provided opportunities for new arrivals. In the 1970s it began to focus on the educational needs of children. The 1980s saw institutional development, as the JCA set up chapters and affiliated organizations in Ontario and helped organize the Council of Jamaicans and the NCJSOC. It also expanded its networks and its range of social services. The JCA also sought to reduce tensions between police and the Jamaican and black communities, and became a persistent advocate for creation of a civilian review board for the police force, which Ontario established in 1981.
Located in Ottawa, the NCJSOC serves as a national umbrella organization for Jamaican and other fraternal West Indian/Caribbean organizations. Along with its representational function, it sponsors civic education and related conferences, seminars, and workshops, and publishes Our National Voice, a quarterly round-up of chapter activities and initiatives.
Jamaicans in Ontario also have participated in the Organization for Caribbean Canadian Initiatives (OCCI), the Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA), the West Indian Social and Cultural Society (WISC), and the John Brooks Foundation. OCCI was established by a group of Jamaican and Caribbean academics and professionals to promote the well-being of Caribbean Canadians and to foster intergroup understanding and racial harmony. It initiated civic education, engaged in research and publication on matters of concern to Caribbean Canadians and Canadian society at large, and submitted briefs to government on education, employment, immigration, and social equality. It also pioneered immigrant settlement services and sponsored cultural events including art shows; dance, theatre, and folkloric performances; a festival of authors, poets, and playwrights; and recognition of achievement awards. Between 1982 and 1985 it operated, as a pilot project in Ontario, a Caribbean Cultural Centre for cultural and social activities, including summer camps designed to facilitate cultural adaptation and integration.
The BBPA was founded in 1982 in Toronto to work for equity in all areas, encourage entrepreneurship, identify and reward excellence and achievement, and cooperate with like-minded organizations to further public opinion and public policy on matters of social and economic justice. Each year it honours outstanding black Canadians at the Harry Jerome Awards Banquet for high achievement in academics, athletics, the arts, business, professional excellence, community service, and leadership; five or six young people receive Harry Jerome scholarships annually. The BBPA has been part of every major initiative fighting systemic racism, overt discrimination, and denial of access and basic rights for any group. Its community projects include development of mixed-income, not-for-profit community housing and a learning centre to give marketable skills to young black people and to enhance the skills of blacks and other minority business people. Since its inception, all presidents of the BBPA have been Jamaican-born, including two women.
The West Indian Social and Cultural Society (WISC), also with a strong Jamaican membership, has focused on civic education and developmental and leadership programs for youth, including career counselling, especially for disadvantaged youth. Many of its activities take place in schools in multi-racial, multi-ethnic settings.
The John Brooks Community Foundation, launched in 1986, has become more of a mainstream community organization. It targets both drop-outs and achievers from grade 7 to matriculation in the public school system and under arrangements with a number of Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario universities. With financial assistance from a philanthropic foundation in Ontario, it provides bursaries and fellowships for students at participating institutions. There are no restrictions on eligibility, and the board of directors embodies the principle of multi-racial and multi-ethnic representation.
